Temple - tera 寺

Before the explanation about temples, let us introduce the first difference between temples and shrines and their common history.

Temple is the place where monks train themselves and we learn the Buddha's teaching.

We don't pray for things simply with expectation that they will be given because that teaching tells nothing about almighty deity.

Shrine is the place where we pray for good things such as rich harvest, children's growth and avoidance of misfortune to god and goddess.

= Ancient Shrine-temple =

Shrines and temples had been mixed since Buddhism was introduced to Japan in 6C.

For example, the current shrine of Turugaoka Hachimangu had been Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine-Temple which was managed by Buddhist priests until the late 19C.

It is Meiji Era that shrines of Shinto and temples of Buddhism were separated by law.

Now, most Japanese visit both shrines and temples regularly, and are buried in the grave at a temple when passing.

As for temples, there are still some temples which also enshrine Shito deities such as Shichifukujin in their sub halls, while their main Buddhist statue is placed in each main building.

The basics of temples of Buddhism are explained as follows, in fact many japanese only know a part of the differences from shrines of Shinto maybe because of the above mentioned history.

No god nor goddess exists in temples.

- We swear things to the saints called buddha -

Each temple has one or more buddhas that are the statues of the Buddhist saints. They are not deities.

Buddhist monks train themselves in the Buddhist manners in temples.

We are not supposed to pray for things just for ourselves. Instead, Buddhists visit temples to be given some teachings and to pay respects and swear things to buddhas.

* It's very conceptual and difficult to explain temples of the Buddhism briefly. So, let us describe it in a extreme manner in order to make it easy to understand.

If we ask a buddha just for wealth, for example, the buddha might answer "Just forget about such worldly desire, or you won't be relieved of agonies."

If we do our business with wider eyes and talk to the buddha like as "I'm still disturbing my mind by worldly desires, but I swear to work hard until my business benefits all people.", we would be told "Good for you".

On the other hand, we may ask the Buddhist priests for individual wish in some cases as follows.

- Buddhist priests offer Sutra-chanting for the dead people in some memorial ceremonies.

- When we visit temples known for safe dlivery, Buddhist priests will pray in the Buddhist manners to protect a pregnant woman.

* We should worship buddhas without making sounds. Hand-crapping is not allowed at temples, while it's required by shrines.

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Buddhism is the Buddha's teaching.

- Buddhas attained enlightenment -

Buddhism was first preached by Shakyamuni 釈迦 in India more than 2,000 years ago and was introduced to Japan through the ancient China and Korea in the 6th century.

It's an idea that teaches people "how to live peacerully in this world".

Shakamuni found that people were surrounded by various agonies which came from worldly affairs such as greed, ill-will, folly etc. and trained himself for a long time to avoide all agonies that he named Bon-no 煩悩.

Reaching the Bon-no free state, he taught his know-how to people.

That is the origin of Buddhism called Bukyo 仏教 and it came to be believed together with the Shinto religion in ancient Japan.

Buddhist saints who reached the Bon-no free state are called Noryai 如来 such as Shaka-nyorai, Dai-nyorai, Amida-nyorai and Yakushi-nyorai etc.

Shaka-nyorai is another name of Shakamuni, which is generally, but not strictly limited to it, called The Buddha.

Other buddhas who were near that state are called Bosatsu 菩薩.

Bosatsu swore to fulfill wishes to save all living creatures in the world, to erase all agonies, to know and complete all teachings of The Buddha. So, Bosatsu are the saints who were still a little before they acomplished their vows.

Additionally, there are various buddhas as we see in each temple.

Buddhist statues were made to introduce those buddhas. Sutras were written in order to pass down Shakamuni's teaching.

Meanwhile, different training methods, such as Stra chanting, Sutra hand-copying, and Zen meditation of the Zen sect spread out.

Our daily practice such as house-cleaning is also a very important training in temples.

On the other hand, there is a Buddhist sect introducing a way of thinking that people will be saved by The Buddha if we keep repeating a short Buddhist pray.

In Buddhism, those training will continue in another world, and common Buddhists are given each Buddhist name when they pass away to keep those training forever near the Buddha.

Temples and mountains

When you enter a temple, you will see a sign with a letter of 山 on the entrance gate. That letter shows the name of the mountain where that temple was founded.

Most temples were built in a quiet place by cutting a mountain and they were named after the combination of the Mountain Name called Sango 山号 and Temple Name.

Therefore, a temple's main gate is called San-mon (山門, gate for the mountain) and the founding priest is called Kaizan (開山, people who cut open a mountain for the temple).

Status

Five horizontal lines on the exterior wall at a temple show its connection with the the Imperial family in the ancient times.

Later, the Tokugawa Shogun family 徳川家 came to put the five lines for some temples related to the family.

As for the following points, it may be easier to understand them by comparison of the shrine and temple.

1. Shinto priests at shrines and Monks at temples:

First of all, they look different in appearce. (Recently, it is not necessarily that all monks shave their heads.)

As for the regular ceremonies, Shinto priests pray for good things and avoicance of disaster etc. Buddhist monks chant Sutras at the time of the funeral and memorial service etc.

Shinto priest / Buddhist monk

2. There are cemeteries in temple but not in shrine.

A few shrines in Japan have some graves in the very exceptional case, but almost all shrines don't.

3. Torii at shrines and San-mon at temples.

Torii gateway at shrine

San-mon gate at temple

Torii gateway 鳥居 that has unique shape does not have doors. Therefore, we can enter anytime. Temples' San-mon gate 山門 or other internal gates have doors that are usually opened from 8:00 - 9:00 AM. to 4:00 - 5:30 PM.

Guardian dogs at shrine

Deva kings at temple

There is a pair of guardians at the entrance, mostly Komainu (lion like dogs) at shrines and Deva kings at temples.

In either case, one opens his mouth that expresses the first breath-in, which means the beginning of the universe or the start of life. The other closes it that means the last breath-out at the end.

On the other hand, it is said in Okinawa that the open-mouth means inhaling good luck and the close-mouth means holding it.